TeliaSonera launches first commercial 4G/LTE network

Nordic telecom operator TeliaSonera announced Monday the launch in Stockholm and Oslo of the world's first commercial 4G/LTE mobile network, up to 10 times faster than current networks.

"Today, as the first operator in the world, TeliaSonera launches 4G services commercially to customers in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway," the company said in a statement.

The 4G/LTE network will enable the use of services "requiring high transmission speed and capacity, such as advanced web TV broadcasting, extensive online gaming and web conferences," Kenneth Karlberg, TeliaSonera's president and head of mobile services, said.

Karlberg specified in a press conference that the 4G network was "basically for data now," adding that 4G-ready mobile phones would probably not be available before 2011.

"The two pioneering 4G city networks cover the central city areas of Stockholm and Oslo and will be used for mobile data," the company said in the statament, adding 4G was the fastest technology available on the market, "with speeds up to ten times higher than today's turbo 3G."

Subscriptions will also be more expensive than for the 3G network, "following the Internet speed price logic from the fixed side," Karlberg said, adding the 4G/LTE network would go live in Finland in 2010 and would become available in 25 Swedish cities during 2010.

TeliaSonera, whose largest shareholder is the Swedish state with a stake of around 37 percent and is 13.7 percent owned by the Finnish state, said it held nationwide 4G/LTE licenses in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

(c) 2009 AFP